In exactly 10 days my two eldest girls are going back to school. After spending almost every minute together for the last 10 weeks, we will now be apart 6 1/2 hours, five days a week. Them and I.

I would be lying, if I said, that I haven’t longed for this day to come.

To have a few hours where I can give my full attention to my baby-girl, where I can use nap time to write and read instead of making lunch, serving snacks, look for lost toys and solve sibling conflicts. To pay a little more attention to myself. To see them get excited about new things they’ll learn and new friends they’ll make.

And yet I know that I will feel heartbroken when the day arrives. I’m bad at leaving my babies behind, even if they’re not babies anymore. 10 weeks is a long time. 10 weeks have turned my girls into each other’s be friends. They have been through days of boredom and fights, gone on great adventures and spent rainy days inside drawing, playing and watching cartoons. I would be lying if I said that I haven’t longed for school to start. But my longing is not half as big as the joy I feel when I see the bonds that 10 weeks of constantly being together has created. 10 weeks is a long time, 10 days are not.